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Ex-Tesla founders who just went stealth

16 founders who worked at Tesla started a company in stealth in the last 15 weeks.

Ex-Tesla
Showing 16 of 16 founders

Vithu Thangarasa

Founder
Left
Tesla
Machine Learning Engineer, Computer Vision
Before that
Went stealthOct 2026
Work
  • Machine Learning Engineer, Computer Vision at Tesla2018-2018 · left Sep 2018
  • Staff ML Research Scientist at Cerebras2024-2025
  • Principal Investigator, AI Hub at Durham College2024-2024
  • Senior ML Research Scientist at Cerebras2020-2024
  • Machine Learning Researcher at Vector Institute2017-2019
  • Machine Learning Research Engineer at Cerebras2019-2019
  • Research Scientist at Uber AI2018-2019
Education
  • University of GuelphMaster's
  • University of GuelphBE

Wassim Gharbi

Founder
Left
Tesla
Software Engineer
Before that
Went stealthOct 2026
Work
  • Software Engineer at Tesla2023-2026 · left Sep 2026
  • Software Engineer at Lyft2021-2023
  • Founding Engineer at Google2017-2021
  • Researcher - Human Computer Interaction at Lafayette College2016-2016
Education
  • Lafayette CollegeBachelor's

Moorissa T.

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Software Engineer, Autopilot & Firmware
Before that
Went stealthSep 2026
Work
  • Software Engineer, Autopilot & Firmware at Tesla2018-2021 · left Jan 2021
  • Resident Member at South Park Commons2026-2026
  • Systems Engineering Tech Lead, Perception at Cruise2021-2025
  • Machine Learning Researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center2017-2018
  • Data Analyst at Marketeam2014-2016
  • Research Fellow, Supply Chain Optimization at World Food Programme2013-2014
Education
  • Columbia UniversityMS
  • Georgia TechBS
  • MIT

Azan Patel

Startup Founder
Left
Tesla
Manufacturing Design Engineer - Optimus
Before that
Went stealthSep 2026
Work
  • Manufacturing Design Engineer - Optimus at Tesla2026-2026 · left May 2026
  • Engineer at NEXT Diagnostics, Inc.2024-2026
  • Clinical Researcher - Quarter at Aggie Square at UC Davis Health2025-2025
  • Neural Researcher @ Z-Lab at University of California, Davis2025-2025
  • I-Corp at National Science Foundation (NSF)2025-2025
  • Accelerator Champion [S25] at Plasma at UC Davis2025-2025
  • NASA Accelerator at NASA2024-2025
Education
  • UC DavisBS
  • Georgia TechBachelor's
  • College of Marin

Promit Iqbal

Founder
Left
Tesla
Software Engineer Intern
Before that
Went stealthSep 2026
Work
  • Software Engineer Intern at Tesla2023-2023 · left Dec 2023
  • Software Engineer at Whop2026-2026
  • Software Engineer at Coinbase2024-2026
  • Software Engineer Intern at Coinbase2023-2023
  • Software Engineer Intern at Revere2023-2023
  • Software Engineer Intern at Wells Fargo2022-2022
  • Cook at Panda Express CA&C2020-2021
Education
  • UC San DiegoBS

Lasse Netterstrøm

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Regional Manager, Charging and Energy, Northern Europe
Before that
Went stealthSep 2026
Work
  • Regional Manager, Charging and Energy, Northern Europe at Tesla2013-2019 · left Nov 2019
  • Chief Operating Officer at FleetGrid2025-2026
  • Head of Business Innovation & Development at Better Energy2023-2024
  • Vice President - Charging & Energy at Einride2022-2024
  • Strategic Board Advisor at Amplo2022-2023
  • Director Charging at Einride2021-2021
  • Head of Future Grid - Nordics and Baltics at Siemens2019-2021
Education
  • Det Kongelige Akademi
  • KEA
  • Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileMA

Madhav Goenka

Founder
Left
Tesla
Mechanical Design Engineer
Before that
Went stealthAug 2026
Work
  • Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla2023-2024 · left Jan 2024
  • Consultant at VALUENEX2023-2026
  • Fellow (ODF21) at ODF2024-2024
  • EIR at Antler2024-2024
  • Mechanical Design Engineer at Electric Hydrogen2023-2023
  • Product Design and Operations Intern at Easy-Ray2022-2022
Education
  • Stanford UniversityMS
  • University of Michigan

Carlos Martinez

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Sr. Telecommunications Engineer
Before that
Went stealthAug 2026
Work
  • Sr. Telecommunications Engineer at Tesla2014-2015 · left Feb 2015
  • Co-Founder and Director of Business Operations at nexxtspace2023-2026
  • AV Manager at Uber2015-2016
  • AV Manager at Zynga2011-2014
  • VC Engineer at BlackRock2008-2011
  • AV Technician at Thresher Communication & Productivity, Inc.2007-2008
  • Broadcasting Coordinator at Thomson Reuters2007-2007
Education
  • SAE Expression CollegeBA
  • Chabot College

Jeff Dong Hyun Lee

Founder
Left
Tesla
Delivery Specialist
Before that
Went stealthAug 2026
Work
  • Delivery Specialist at Tesla2020-2020 · left Mar 2020
  • Business Development/Operations at BitMart2024-2024
  • Account Manager at Mistplay2023-2024
  • CEO & Co-founder at Frontier Social2022-2023
  • Entrepreneur at Antler2022-2022
  • Global Marketing at Seoul Stars2022-2022
  • Global Marketing at Artisse2022-2022
Education
  • Sungkyunkwan UniversityBachelor's
  • King George V School Hong Kong

Haani Ahmed

Founder
Left
Tesla
Mechanical Design Engineer
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla2023-2024 · left Jun 2024
  • Electrical Hardware- Custom Component Lead at Figure2024-2026
  • Design Release Engineer (front seat integration electrical lead) at General Motors2021-2023
  • Lead Engineer for Seating System (SUV) at Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI)2018-2021
Education
  • NED University of Engineering and TechnologyBE
  • Eastern Michigan UniversityMBA

Suman Sherwani

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Product Specialist
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Product Specialist at Tesla2015-2016 · left Aug 2016
  • Technical Project Manager at Rocket Factory Augsburg - RFA2024-2025
  • Avionics Integration and Operations Engineer at SpaceX2021-2023
  • NASA Contractor - Project Manager and Systems Engineer at University of Iowa2018-2021
  • Software and Electrical Engineering Co-op at Collins Aerospace2017-2018
Education
  • ETH ZürichMS
  • University of IowaBachelor's
  • Andøya Space Center

Sparsh Gupta

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Senior Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla2025-2026 · until Jul 2026
  • Guitarist, Singer & Composer at The California Conservatory of Music2022-2026
  • Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla2021-2025
  • YouTuber, Fingerstyle Guitarist at YouTube2017-2021
  • Manufacturing Engineering Intern at Amazon2020-2020
  • Research Member, CCAT-prime Metrology Robot Project at Cornell University2018-2020
  • Manufacturing Engineering Intern at Johnson & Johnson MedTech2019-2020
Education
  • Cornell UniversityBachelor's

Pablo Gonzalez

Founder, CPTO
Left
Tesla
Dir/VP Engineering, and MES Systems
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Dir/VP Engineering, and MES Systems at Tesla2013-2017 · left Jan 2017
  • EVP, CPTO at Powin2021-2025
  • SVP Engineering at Astra2019-2022
  • Vice President of Engineering at Apple2017-2019
Education
  • UC DavisPhD
  • UC DavisMS
  • University of California, Santa CruzBS

Richard B.

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Software Engineer - Autopilot
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Software Engineer - Autopilot at Tesla2020-2021 · left Jan 2021
  • Research Engineer at 1X2025-2026
  • Research Engineer at Arc Institute2025-2025
  • Software Engineer - Constellation GNC at SpaceX2021-2025
  • AI Research Fellow - Robotic Surgery at Caltech2020-2022
  • Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates2020-2020
  • Software Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory2018-2019
Education
  • CaltechBachelor's

Rishi K.

Co-Founder
Left
Tesla
Firmware Engineer
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Firmware Engineer at Tesla2021-2021 · left Apr 2021
  • System Engineer at Susquehanna International Group2025-2025
  • Co-Founder at RXTX Networks2024-2025
  • Systems Engineer at Formlabs2022-2022
  • Electrical Engineer at Canadian Space Agency | Agence spatiale canadienne2019-2019
  • Radio Frequency Systems Engineer at Rogers Communications2019-2019
  • Blackjack Dealer at Canadian National Exhibition2018-2018
Education
  • University of WaterlooBachelor's

Xin J.

Founder
Left
Tesla
Product Manager
Before that
Went stealthJul 2026
Work
  • Product Manager at Tesla2021-2021 · left Dec 2021
  • Co-Founder at Incypio2023-2025
  • Program Manager at SenseTime 商汤科技2022-2023
  • Software Engineer at Intel2021-2022
  • Software Engineer at Tencent2021-2021
  • Product Manager at Phancy Group2020-2021
  • Summer Research Assistant at Chinese Academy of Sciences2020-2020

Built on Crustdata. Build your own.

Crustdata tracks hundreds of millions of professional profiles. This directory is one saved search: "current title includes founder, current company is Stealth", re-run every week. Point the same search at your own market.

Get an API key 
# the one request behind this page
curl https://api.crustdata.com/watch/person/search \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $CRUSTDATA_KEY" \
  -H "x-api-version: 2025-11-01" \
  -d '{
    "filters": { "op": "and", "conditions": [
      { "field": "experience.employment_details.current.company_name",
        "type": "[.]", "value": "stealth" },
      { "field": "experience.employment_details.current.title",
        "type": "(.)", "value": "founder" }
    ]},
    "fields": ["basic_profile", "experience", "education"],
    "config": { "trigger": { "type": "interval", "every_hours": 168 } }
  }'
# [.] = exact phrase, (.) = all words. Each week it returns only the new matches.

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About this list

What "stealth" means here: the person's current job is a founder title (Founder, Co-Founder, Founder & CEO…) at a company listed as "Stealth", "Stealth Startup" or similar, because they haven't announced it yet.

Where it comes from: public professional profiles, via the Crustdata API. A new search runs every week and adds whoever newly matches. Profiles can take a few weeks to show up, and start dates are by month.

The company on each row is the most recent job before going stealth, with the title they held there. Where we can, we skip internships, advisor seats and freelance stints. On a "former employer" page it shows the job at that employer instead. Click a row for their full work history and education.